How did your style evolve?

[Faust]

[The Great Destroyer]

Ok I'm going to give this a shot.

I guess I started caring about what kind of clothes I wore and how I looked when I started getting into metal/punk rock at about 13-14 years old. Basically from 13-14 to about 17 my uniform was black band t-shirt and Levis 501. At around 17 I started getting really into Motley Crue (no bashing guys!) and I started to notice the way Nikki Sixx was dressing and got into the whole LA scene of Affliction, Monarchy etc. I still have some stuff left from that period although if I ever wear it, I wear it to the gym, no need to dress up for that imo.

Anyway thanks to that I started to look at a lot of clothes online since there were not many stores in stockholm at that time that sold such clothes and therefore I got to know Saks, Neiman Marcus, Blooming Dales etc.

Then me and my family wen't on a trip to NYC and I visited the Chrome Hearts store and bought a Denim Jacket/Shirt with leather details. That was my first experience with high fashion. While I don't exactly approve of all of the logo t shirts that sell for way beyond what they are worth etc I still think that some of their more elaborate pieces are nice, albeit overpriced. At this point I was around 18 years old.

After that I had my mind set on getting my self a nice suit since I thought that was something that everyone should have in their wardrobe so for a while I got pretty into Hugo Boss, Ralph Lauren, Prada etc. This in turn led me to a trip to Los Angeles where I indeed did find a suit but more importantly I payed a visit to the store Lords on Beverly and Melrose. A store that probably changed my life and my whole outlook on fashion. The clothing was way cleaner, sharper but still edgier than anything I'd ever seen from CH/Affliction/Monarchy etc but it immediately spoke to me which made me buy a Suede Mandarin Collared Shirt that I to this day love.

When I found Lords everything just sort of "happened" for me, I discovered Dior Homme (Heidi era), Rick Owens, Julius, a friend introduced me to Ann D and then I found SZ. I've actually been lurking here without registering for a couple of years without registering but I felt like it was time now.

Anyway thats pretty much my story and now at age 22 I feel like I have found my place in fashion. I was 19 when I first discovered Rick Owens and since then, thanks to SZ mostly, I've found so much more (no need to name all the brands).

[beardown]

I've got your story, xxdeucexx:

You came to SZ, created a bunch of enemies by ignoring the rules, being rude and speed posted your way into ban-hood.

The end. Glad to have met you.

[Skye X]

I've got your story, xxdeucexx:

You came to SZ, created a bunch of enemies by ignoring the rules, being rude and speed posted your way into ban-hood.

The end. Glad to have met you.

[elephantstone]

Wow, an very inspiring thread.

Find my experience extremely similar with Spencer's

Wearing Tommy, Ralph Lauren and Calvin Klein(yes, all preppy stuffs) everyday during my freshman year, and I thought at the time I was really cool and stylish

Then my second girl friend introduce me some fashion brands(Mostly jeans such as diesel, evisu etc). Hate to say this but because of her, I bought plenty Marc by Marc Jacobs stuffs. I was thinking these may be the most expensive clothing I will ever buy besides suits, but who knows, things always change. Then I got more exposure to fashion with my third girl friend, who introduces me to the likes of Mcqueen, YSL etc.
The big change came after my break up with her. I looked at myself and thought it was time for a change, so I started a diet and went to gym, was able to go from 210 lbs to less than 170 lbs (I'm about 6"1 ft tall).
Since nothing in my wardrobes now fit me, I start the hunt for new clothings with the help from my parents(who were impressed with my changes) and some money earned in part-time works . At the beginning I was still looking at the more famed and popular brands out there, Burberry, Prada etc... Bought several D&G shirts (I still keep them today, but probably will only wear them during parties), Ferragamo and Tod's shoes, MCQ tees and shirts, nothing impressive except their big names and price tags. Then came the big turning point of my fashion taste, It was winter and I was searching for a new winter coat, I was initially going to buy a Dior or Burberry one when I accidentally bump into the corner. I remembered visiting the site before for Marc Jacobs stuffs and was quiet surprised I couldn't recognized any of the men's designers name besides him. But things changed, I saw an winter coat from Ann and I was immediately blew away. I've never seen anyone made such a beautiful coat for man and almost impulsively spent $1500 on a designer I barely know. I looked at her other pieces and was totally sold, she designed exactly the clothes I have always been looking for.It's quite a feeling I can't explain, but all I know it's I have to get them. Luckily, I was able to quickly made up my mind and picked up one on sale before it was sold out everywhere.Everything else is smooth from since then. I start to digging out Damir, Rick, Yohji as my new favorites while lurking on SZ and slowly rebuilding my wardrobe. Kinda regret the huge money I used to spend on the famed designers, but I can't complain, everyone has to gone through some stages of misery before they finally settle for their right style. But still, in my mind, nothing compared with the works come from Ann, pure classics. And she's the only designer that I felt a strong sense ofattachment

[docus]

My so-called 'style' has been through many phases - here's the rough chronology:

Nappies/babygrows ---> school uniform (I grew up in Northern Ireland, where it's quite cold, but I had to wear shorts all year round!!! Plus a blazer that, in hindsight, was really quite funky, almost Harnden-esque, and a daft Edwardian-style hat that looked like something Rupert the Bear might have worn) ---> eventual Indie/punk breakout (plus lots of zits) ---> hip-hop/Madchester ---> acid house/rave ---> years of wearing charity shop finds and army surplus ---> Margiela & deconstructionists ---> Carpe Diem & related (coinciding with my gf working in Paris and me discovering l'Eclaireur!) ---> current 'style' smorgasboard includes bits from all the previous phases, plus Rick Owens, various Japanese bits (VA, KKA) ---> THE FUTURE... I'm getting interested in Paul Harnden and Geoffrey B. Small, who seem to have a style and ethos that fits mine (and my naturally unkempt appearance...)

[Faust]

Wow, an very inspiring thread.

Find my experience extremely similar with Spencer's

Wearing Tommy, Ralph Lauren and Calvin Klein(yes, all preppy stuffs) everyday during my freshman year, and I thought at the time I was really cool and stylish

Then my second girl friend introduce me some fashion brands(Mostly jeans such as diesel, evisu etc). Hate to say this but because of her, I bought plenty Marc by Marc Jacobs stuffs. I was thinking these may be the most expensive clothing I will ever buy besides suits, but who knows, things always change. Then I got more exposure to fashion with my third girl friend, who introduces me to the likes of Mcqueen, YSL etc.
The big change came after my break up with her. I looked at myself and thought it was time for a change, so I started a diet and went to gym, was able to go from 210 lbs to less than 170 lbs (I'm about 6"1 ft tall).
Since nothing in my wardrobes now fit me, I start the hunt for new clothings with the help from my parents(who were impressed with my changes) and some money earned in part-time works . At the beginning I was still looking at the more famed and popular brands out there, Burberry, Prada etc... Bought several D&G shirts (I still keep them today, but probably will only wear them during parties), Ferragamo and Tod's shoes, MCQ tees and shirts, nothing impressive except their big names and price tags. Then came the big turning point of my fashion taste, It was winter and I was searching for a new winter coat, I was initially going to buy a Dior or Burberry one when I accidentally bump into the corner. I remembered visiting the site before for Marc Jacobs stuffs and was quiet surprised I couldn't recognized any of the men's designers name besides him. But things changed, I saw an winter coat from Ann and I was immediately blew away. I've never seen anyone made such a beautiful coat for man and almost impulsively spent $1500 on a designer I barely know. I looked at her other pieces and was totally sold, she designed exactly the clothes I have always been looking for.It's quite a feeling I can't explain, but all I know it's I have to get them. Luckily, I was able to quickly made up my mind and picked up one on sale before it was sold out everywhere.Everything else is smooth from since then. I start to digging out Damir, Rick, Yohji as my new favorites while lurking on SZ and slowly rebuilding my wardrobe. Kinda regret the huge money I used to spend on the famed designers, but I can't complain, everyone has to gone through some stages of misery before they finally settle for their right style. But still, in my mind, nothing compared with the works come from Ann, pure classics. And she's the only designer that I felt a strong sense ofattachment

I know the feeling.

[messenoire]

what/who started you on your path?

the missed meals. the overdue rent. the glances of strangers in admiration, confusion, curiosity, & ambivalence. the scrimping and saving for months and months to procure that one garment that speaks louder than all others. to call sought after pieces your own. the smell of leather. the texture of wool against your flesh. to step outside of the world of fast paced flash consumerism and make calculated, conscious and restrained decisions in your purchases. assumably everyone here could be classified as obsessed with fashion on one level or another. my question to you is: what got you started? what spark ignited the fire that burns today? what show was the one that made you say "this is where i belong"? what designer beckoned you so loudly that you could not ignore their call and had to dive head first into their universe? what collection started it all?

i just read through a few threads and realized faust has a thread that is close to this same question. i am do not know how to delete this.

[Faust]

/\ it's so poetic, i did not want to simply delete it.

[Faust]

bump.

[Lo-ki]

Style it's kind of gone full circle for me. I jump off the roundabout at full blown hammer time although some do it so well I'm a hip hop home boy at heart and been that way since Malcolm Mclaren was riding Buffalo Girls.
The boots over baggies and oversized tee look is just right for my frame Xl 52/54.. The quality has changed of course from Nike Air Force Ones to Dunks, Avirex to RO and Timberlands to A1923 but the aesthetic is still similar oversized is back on my side of the fence, the resonance of symmetry has come around again and happy times man the skinny jean ball breakers werent great for us plus sized Joes especially when we were on those long long car journeys.

[candrew]

Dressed in oversized polos + batman tees + chinos + running shoes as (elementary, mostly dressed by my mother) ->
hoodies + baggy jeans (middle school, some self-input) ->
band tees + black tees + skinnier jeans (high school, goth kids showed me that i could dress how i wanted) ->
hollister + pacsun + aeropostale (bad times in late high school and early college) ->
american apparel + urban outfitters (late college, all slim fitting with skinny jeans) ->
Finally:
trad -> menswear -> hypebeasty -> goth ninja -> some amalgamation of menswear and drapey things (all happened in the first six months of having a job and discovering sf, sufu, and sz and trying many things to find out my style)

Current wear is something like plokhov, schneider, raw black skinny jeans, guidi, margiela, tech jacket, silent. All are restricted to black, blue, white, grey color palette.

[anomolies]

I used to dress horribly, and not realize it. In middle shool/high school i wore clothes 3-4 sizes too big for me. I still dress poorly sometimes, part of which I feel that it's difficult to stand back from a 3rd person perspective and get a good look at myself. Proportions always seem skewed in front of a normal mirror.

I've come a long way, but haven't made it to my goal. I've always been fascinated by clothing from the victorian era, and wonder what the culture was like in those times. If goth existed then as a subculture, it would be what I am trying to accomplish whenever I dress myself, at least in spirit.

More often than I would like, I end up falling into goth ninja territory, and it has the effect of being too cosplayish, at least on me.
I'm looking for more of a cross between nomadic, outcast, rebellious, and yet clean-cut, a contradiction I seem to find in a lot of BBS pieces.

Sadly, if money wasn't an issue I feel as if I would have the important pieces that would pull the entire look together.

(Anyone care to point me in the right direction? perhaps an alternative designer? Seems like my missing grail pieces mostly exist in previous seasons, but I am barely familiar with the past two years.
Normally my price range is $100-500 for an article of clothing. If it was something I really want I would probably drop a grand, but anything beyond that is impossible)

[eleven crows]

I've come a long way, but haven't made it to my goal. I've always been fascinated by clothing from the victorian era, and wonder what the culture was like in those times. If goth existed then as a subculture, it would be what I am trying to accomplish whenever I dress myself, at least in spirit.

And a store that may be of interest:

http://www.retroscopefashions.com/mens.html

[kuriz]

Most interesting to read SZ users histories when it comes to ending up in all black. Compared to fellow SZers there are no doubt that with my 22 years I've jumped over several brands and styles before ending up here. Like most others I did also buy some D&G and its likes before getting into the more black clothing, but nothing that can really compare to really getting into a certain style.

That being said, I feel like my movement inside the SZ aesthetics has only just begun. My problem is still that I'm too quick to press the 'send money'-button before I make myself conscious whether and/or how a certain piece will fit into my wardrobe and the look I want to have.
Until very recently BBS have been my brand of choice. I skate a bit myself, and that street inspired leather mixed up with roughness and (in lack of a better word) "big,long,heavy" pieces really have made it for me. But...I've done it again. Got good deals on several Ann pieces.
And when I look at Ann runway pictures there are just this certain indescribable thing to it like elephantstone also explained earlier in the thread.

- Wonder if one can mix those two